The nicest highrise in Baltic capitals built by Soviets!

[ch1le]

Ok, dunno, lets see what u guys think.. which are the nicest highrises that the dear soviets built in our nice Capitals!

edit: crap... wrong section, didnt look damnit, can some mod transfer it to skybar or skyscrapers and skylines!

[Gatis]

TV building in Riga is missing... although it was completed already in independence times.
Another problem - in Soviet times Reval Hotel looked terrible, it was reconstructed around year 2000.

[ch1le]

Oh crap yes i forgot it... can iadd it? dont mind if its reconstructed.... most have been reconstructed some way or another

[John]

Before I vote I have a question - should I evaluate it by how it looked as it was built back in soviet times or as it looks nowadays?

[NiceGuy]

I am not too familiar with any of these building, even though I probably saw the 3 buildings in Tallinn during my awasome one-week stay there in 1996. Could someone post some pictures please?

[ch1le]

nowadays, nowadays

[Edd]

How should we rate them? How they looked like originally or how they look like today?
Btw press house is missing from Vilnius but it still is ugly :).

Edit: sorry, John has asked the same question before.

[Edd]

It's between Reval hotel Lietuva and Crowne Plaza to me. Which one should I choose? :)

[sdes]

Reval Hotel Latvija, Riga

[ch1le]

ehh lol choose the one u like the best, not what is closest to you! :) Press house errr what is that :), sorry i added the ones i knew best, lol, mixed preses nams and Latvian tv though! :( anyways my vote goes to Reval hotel Latvija...
can u post of pics of the highrises in question in your town plz?

a poor shot of Reval Hotel Olümpia in Tallinn:
http://www.hot.ee/ch1le/olymia.jpg

[Edd]

@ch1le: I really like those two the best and not because they are closest to me ;). They just looks the best imo. Some photo of CP:
http://img102.exs.cx/img102/4941/15-CopyofIMGP2314.jpg

[John]

My favorites

1. Crowne Plaza, Vilnius not really tall but I love how it was reconstructed, it looked like a cheap commie style hotel before
http://img47.exs.cx/img47/7421/26-cp1.jpg

http://img47.exs.cx/img47/4239/a1-cp3.jpg

http://img51.exs.cx/img51/1299/3d-cp.jpg

before renovation, see any difference? ;)
http://www.futurist.fi/litimg/Image127.jpg

2. Reval Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius
http://img51.exs.cx/img51/8592/d0-rh.jpg

http://img51.exs.cx/img51/6563/41-rhl.jpg


3. Reval Hotel Olumpia, Tallinn
http://img51.exs.cx/img51/8877/0b-olumpia.jpg

[ch1le]

IMO reval hotel Lietuva wasnt renovated too nicely... looks bad imo ... just my :2cents:,
crowne plazas tranformation was pretty impressive though :)

[John]

@ch1le

I believe they also were thinking about a complete facade change of "Lietuva", but they decided to keep the original facade. Otherwise it would be just another ordinary glass-box. I like the way it looks now, just something different and more original.

[Edd]

At first I thought like you ch1le, but now I like that the fasade of hotel Lietuva was only renovated - not changed. It looks unique and interesting - not just flat as of all new buildings. They spent loads of money for renovation of hotel lietuva - they could easily build the new hotel.

[Oberleutnant]

Academy of Science or Reval Hotel Latvija... Olümpia is somewhat too fat -- or two for short for that design, Reval Hotel Lietuva on the other hand doesn't do it for me (Crowne Plaza looks better, if less original).

[Gatis]

Nobody likes Preses Nams in Riga??? Sad... you do not see where the real beauty is... j/k
Pictures of Soviet time highrises in Riga:
Academy of Science, 108m, built in 1957
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/ZinAkademija.jpg
Ministry of Agriculture, 92m, built in 1978
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/ZemkopibasMin2.jpg
Reval Hotel Latvia, 95 m, 1978
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/HotelLatvija.jpg
Preses nams, 77m, 1977
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/Preses_nams_25apr04.jpg
TV building, height unknown, 1987
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/LatvijasTV.jpg

Regarding the others:
somehow do not like Olympia in Tallinn - although the shape of the building is interesting. Hotell Viru - I liked it quite much when was child - then the building was also new. Do not know Ministry of Funds.
In Vilnius - Crowne Plaza - I find it a bit disturbing regarding the glass covering quality. The idea is cool but the quality of realisation - not so fine, that glass just beats it down. But the neon lights make it fine in night. Reval Hotel Lietuva - mix of brutalism from 1970ies and recent minimalism. Interesting... but not nice for my. Just a matter of taste.
Riga. Academy of Science is very interesting but the outer cladding currently makes it damn sad. Ministry of Agriculture and Preses nams - currently both create more damage to the city than good. TV building - very good to my mind. Just a pitty that they did not use real black colour but a tint of dark brown. Proper reconstruction+ landscaping could make it the best. Reval Hotel Riga - despite any complaints I have fully used to its location in middle of Art Nouveau buildings... It's hard for me to look at it with "fresh eyes". But I like it rather much

Sorry, but my choice would be:
Hotel Reval Latvia
I really hard tried to be objective.

[blimey]

Reval Hotel Lietuva hands down.
Its the most architecturally valuable of all. In Soviet Times it used to be presented as one of the most modern buildings in USSR. It looks pretty nice as well.
I'm not being biased, btw.

[John]

Latvian TV building looks interesting, I'd put it among my favorites as well.

Now are there any pictures of Hotel Latvija before renovation? I don't like its current appearance too much, it's still ok though.

[Gatis]

http://www.ailab.lv/Riga/R01/b26.jpg

http://www.randburg.com/lv/gif/hotellatvia_4.jpg

http://www.globalmed.ch/Riga/15.jpg

[John]

wow in this picture it looks cool, I even like it better than after the renovation
http://www.randburg.com/lv/gif/hotellatvia_4.jpg

[Hybrid 87]

Well My favorite highrise is "Saules Akmens" in Riga, but `cuz it`s not biult by soviets, so my second favorite highrise is "Viesnīca "Latvija"" or how it`s called now "Reval Hotel Latvia", but only after the roconstruction, cuz before it just looked like all other highrises in Riga. Now it has an unique touch in Riga Skyline.

http://foto.inbox.lv/albums/h87/Riga/28_10_2004_029.jpg

[AtlanticaC5]

I choose Academy of Science, it looks like the little-sister to the Moscow-palaces, even though it could need a renovation.

[Edd]

@Gatis: What is wrong with glass of CP? If you talk about reflections in those photos - you can get the same effects from almost all buildings if you use some zoom and proper angles/light. Also those photos are not perfectly resized (look at the lines in that photo). One more thing which makes such effect is opening windows and small cells of windows. But the quality is not bad - you should see it in reality the hotel isn't really some kind of cheap one and it doesn't look like it (only in that photo it looks not so good). And also look at this photo (I've seen many good photos from the front but I can't find them now):
http://img47.exs.cx/img47/7421/26-cp1.jpg

Look at some photos by ERIC of CBX in Paris:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/autresmondes2/img/chantiercbx02.jpg

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/autresmondes2/img/chantiercbx04.jpg

Look at the reflections - they are also distorted and the windows here are bigger and photos are not zoomed very much and also photos are resized good. It is easy to make worse photos of that building but I woudn't say that the quality of glass is bad. Actually I have noticed such effects a long time ago - in some photos the same buildings look like mirrors with no distortions and in other photos there are many distortions in reflections.

[Siberian]

I like more Reval Hotel now, but it was redesigned recently. As for original design I prefer Tallinn's Olumpia!

[Dr.Jackal]

Olumpia

[Gatis]

No - that building in Paris has stylish, flat windows. Here is John's picture:
http://img132.exs.cx/img132/4629/ab-crowne.jpg
The glass sheets are uneven. They are fitted well and evenly but the glass surface itself is uneven.
The "mirror" effect of huge surface is very important part in image of this building.
Compare to Hanner building - it has far better glass sheet quality and only at bigger angle we see some distortion at the rims of glass sheets
http://img132.exs.cx/img132/8499/fd-hanner.jpg

[John]

^^^
Talking about glass quality of Hanner building. I like this building but the glass if definitely not of the best quality of new buildings in Vilnius. The "distortions" depend on the angle of the photo, the further away you are from the building the more "distortions" appear. In case of those two pictures Hanner building is quite close while Crowne Plaza is further away. So sorry Gatis but this comparision doesn't make any sense. The impression of "uneven" glass is also trenghtened because of many separate small pieces of glass.

[Edd]

@Gatis: The glass quality is good of CP - believe me I've seen that building many times in reality. And if you looked at that building which I have posted although it "has stylish, flat windows" its surface is uneven and distorts reflections quite much. And if we talk about hanner - I've seen some pics where it looks not so good. The glass quality of CP is bigger than of hanner.

[dolphin_pl]

hotel Lietuva and Academy of Science- I think its beautiful it has sth with art deco style

[sdes]

http://img132.exs.cx/img132/4629/ab-crowne.jpg
http://img132.exs.cx/img132/8499/fd-hanner.jpg
I like that kind of cladding very much, looks much better than double facade IMO.

[John]

http://img132.exs.cx/img132/4629/ab-crowne.jpg
http://img132.exs.cx/img132/8499/fd-hanner.jpg
I like that kind of cladding very much, looks much better than double facade IMO.

For me it's on the contrary, I love double facades. Or at least ordinary facades with big transparent glass sheets (like the ones on Victoria Tower in Vilnius).

[Gatis]

OK. It just means that I should find a possibility to visit Vilnius :)

[Edd]

You are right Gatis :).
Btw, I've noticed that dolphin_pl is banned. I guess dolphin_pl = delfin_pl and it was banned earlier too? What has happened?

[John]

^^
I think delfin_pl was banned for 3 days, although dunno what for.

[ex. SDmaster]

Photo of hotel Olumpia, 1980
http://www.hot.ee/stigma/1980/olimpia.jpg

P.S. My vote goes to Riga, to Reval Hotel Latvia

[Gatis]

Btw. somebody likes Preses nams!

[_keen_]

Academy of Science in Riga is my favorite. This retro style skyscraper looks amazing ! I love this kind of architecture, where small windows and tiny towers form old facade. But big height gives modern touch.

[ch1le]

Btw. somebody likes Preses nams!


yep, hahahaha :) :runaway:

[LatvianGG]

I just loooove Reval Latvija on this pic....
http://img24.exs.cx/img24/4227/q1drevallatviasnow.jpg

[Moolio]

Isn't Sokos Hotel Viru built by Finns? Not sure about this, but that's the impression I've had.

[NiceGuy]

My vote goes to the Academy of Science in Riga.

[ch1le]

Isn't Sokos Hotel Viru built by Finns? Not sure about this, but that's the impression I've had.

u are correct!

[Janis_LV]

if to judge towers build during soviet times adn before renovations made by capitalists my top is following:

1.Olympia
2.Viru
3.Latvian Television

0. Academy od Science in Riga (not in competition ,too uniqe)